Dan Carter got a bit of grief when he was somehow turned into a slightly creepy wallflower for Daikin heatpumps. And Stephen Fleming is well renowned as the diving spokesman for Fujitsu. Now “New Zealand’s number one selling wood fire” Metro Fires has combined the two with a parody ad featuring Dai Henwood. 

The marcomms world has a reputation for knobbish behaviour. Throwing bread rolls at MCs, using middle initials, crashing luxury cars, making up ridiculous job titles, tricking people into buying things with shiny ads … the list goes on. So what better way to celebrate the launch of Knob Creek 9YO and 9YO single barrel bourbon than by asking our dear readers to offer an example of knobbishness (for example, wearing a tight salmon polo shirt and tight salmon pants with a salmon sweater tied around the neck). We’ve got four bottles of the good stuff to give away, so add your thoughts to the comment wall and you could become our Knob of the Week.  

Ah, April Fool’s. Or as the LA Times calls it, Don’t Trust the Media Day. There is a long and established tradition of punking on the first of the fourth, as the Independent’s piece on classic April Fool’s stunts shows. And here’s a round-up of a few good’uns we noticed in 2012.

The retirement industry isn’t the most glamorous, but with our ageing population and the ‘pig in the python’ that is the baby boomer generation, there’s plenty of brass to be found in the muck. Typically, the big sell is all about the facilities on offer. But Summerset Group, which listed on the stock exchange in November, has taken a slightly different approach with its first national marketing campaign and is buttering up its residents instead. 

Beyoncé, Britney, the Beckhams… All around the world, celebrities endorse perfumes—and, increasingly, sell their own. We can’t think of too many Kiwi stars spruiking fragrances at present, but that looks set to change soon because we’ve learned the NZRU is set to launch its own scent called Scrummâge. 

State Insurance went large in 2010 year when it launched its ‘Love your Stuff’ positioning with the ‘My Favourite Things’ campaign. And Colenso BBDO has taken that musical approach even further for the next iteration with a big new TV and radio campaign showing how quickly State can get things back on track. 

As of tomorrow, New Zealanders will have another option for viewing, with Australian movie and TV subscription service Quickflix launching and ISPs Slingshot and Orcon unmetering the new offering. 

Pak N Save’s Stickman is a cheeky wee chappy. And he recently peeved off a few militant vegetarians and upholders of political correctness with a recent Meat Week ad. But rather than bow down to the vocal minority, as often seems to be the case these days, DraftFCB and Foodstuffs had a bit of fun instead and decided to placate the flesh avoiders with a modified version.

Last year outdoor apparel brand Patagonia took out a full-page ad in the New York Times and other papers for Black Friday and Cyber Monday—the days around Thanksgiving that get the tills ringing loudest for US retailers—with the bold headline ‘DON’T BUY THIS JACKET’. Urging consumers to buy only after making a considered choice was obviously a risky move, but despite this, its sales were still up 28 percent on Cyber Monday. And, according to chief executive Casey Sheahan, who was speaking at the Better By Design CEO summit in Auckland today, this bold attitude permeates the brand.

Nostalgia certainly worked for Steinlager last year when it brought back the white can for the RWC. So Lion has decided to take a leaf out of that book for Lion Red by bringing back a limited edition number from 1972 to celebrate 40 years of red cans.